Kolkata, Aug 20 - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday evening gave away awards to eminent writers and artists of the city, including those who supported her in the anti-land acquisition movements in Singur and Nandigram in West Bengal.

Altogether 12 personalities - including eminent writer and social activist Mahasweta Devi, poet Joy Goswami, veteran Bengali actor Supriya Devi, painter Suvaprasanna, dancer Amala Shankar, singer Nirmala Mishra, theatre personality Bivas Chakraborty - were honoured on behalf of the Indian Railways during the occasion.

Though there were 15 personalities in the list, three of them - filmmaker Rituparno Ghosh, classical vocalist Ajoy Chakraborty and Rabindra Sangeet exponent Suchitra Mitra - did not turn up to receive the honour.